MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney announced that a Hempstead MS-13 member pleaded yesterday guilty to two counts of Murder in the Second Degree, and related charges, for incidents in which he shot and killed a 16-year old on a Uniondale Street in 2016 and killed a 22-year old man in a vicious machete hacking in 2017.
Defendant Edar Ventura, also known as Trauma and Despiadado, 21, pleaded guilty yesterday before Judge William O’Brien to:
- Two counts of Murder in the Second Degree (an A-I felony)
- Attempted Murder in the Second Degree (n B violent felony)
- Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (a C violent felony)
The defendant is due back in court on April 10 and is expected to be sentenced to 32 years to life in prison. The NCDA had recommended a pre-trial sentence of 40 years to life in prison.
“Two young men were viciously murdered by this defendant so that he could gain status and climb the ranks of MS-13,” DA Singas said. “This street gang has terrorized our immigrant communities and is constantly plotting acts of violence against anyone perceived to be a rival. I am extremely grateful to the Nassau County Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations and the Drug Enforcement Administration, for their assistance in this investigation and their commitment in helping to dismantle MS-13 on Long Island and around the United States.”
DA Singas said that on December 13, 2016, Edar Ventura and co-defendant Jeustin David Maldonado, both MS-13 gang members, sought to kill a perceived enemy of MS-13. The defendants rode on bicycles to Fenimore Avenue in Uniondale, where they discovered their intended target, who was inside a car.
Other individuals, including victim Alexon Moya, who was not the intended target, were in the vicinity of the car. Maldonado ordered the perceived enemy of the gang out of the car, displayed gang signs and yelled “La Mara.” At that time, Ventura produced a gun and fired at least three rounds, and struck Moya in the head. Moya was taken to the hospital and was pronounced dead two days later on December 15, 2016. Ventura sought to kill the perceived enemy of the gang to attain greater status in MS-13.
Maldonado pleaded guilty to the top charge of his indictment, Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, and is awaiting sentence.
On August 11, 2017, Carlos Rivas-Majano told a family member that he was on his way home from a deli in Uniondale and never returned home. Rivas-Majano, another perceived enemy of the gang, was lured into the woods near the Meadowbrook Parkway and Glen Curtiss Boulevard in Uniondale, where he was hacked and stabbed to death with machetes. The victim’s body was recovered on August 29, 2018.
Four co-defendants, in addition to Ventura, also alleged members of MS-13, were apprehended and their cases are pending. The investigation is ongoing.
As part of Ventura’s plea, he admitted to membership in MS-13.
The defendant was arrested on December 18, 2017, by members of the NCPD Homicide Squad with the assistance of the Gang Investigation Squad.
The case is being prosecuted by Deputy Chief Jared Rosenblatt of DA Singas’ Major Offense Bureau. The defendant is represented by David Haber, Esq.
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